2024 Dec 18
Expression of Interest,
further info’ and application form
CLICK HERE
for further information
Max Finkelstein
All paddlers must have a CVBS Participant membership (available on this link), and should have a “crew seat” booked before taking out a membership. If you do NOT have a “crew seat” please complete the above Expression of Interest to find a Crew and seat.
General Plan (first draft)
from Max: early December 2024
For 2025, we are planning another Chief Pinesi Brigade. Here are the details, at this point in time”.
We are aiming for 3 big canoes, a2 Montreal Canoes and one north Canoe, with about 32 paddlers.
Dates: June 23-July 1
Distance: about 160 km
Starting Point: Deep River, Ontario
Destination: Stanley Park, Ottawa, on the Rideau River near the confluence with the Ottawa.
Objectives: same as for 2024. This is an Algonquin-led brigade. We are aiming for about half the participants to be Indigenous, half ‘settler”.
This brigade retraces part of the route traveled by Chief Pinesi and by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
We will launch from Deep River, with drumming and blessings from elders.The 2025 Pinesi Paddle for Peace will end the same place as the 2024 Brigade, with paddlers descending the Rideau River and walking the final stretch along the ancient portage trail connecting the Ottawa and Rideau rivers in what is now New Edinborough.
Paddlers will once again include direct descendants of Chief Constant Pinesi. We hope to attract paddlers from across North America and even from overseas.
The daily practice of the paddling journey will include efforts towards reconciliation. This will not only occur amongst the paddlers themselves, but also with communities along the route, where mayors, community leaders and local historians will meet with us and celebrate the event.
Provisional Schedule
June 24: Deep River
Highlights:
Pointe au Bapteme
Where the Ottawa River narrows as it meets the encroaching [Canadian] Shield, a long sandy point juts far out into the waterway. For brigades heading upstream, this was an obvious campsite that took on a special significance. Here, the veteran voyageurs “baptized” any novices in the crew, and these greenhorns were required to stand drinks — a regal — all round. For paddlers today, the point, which emerges from the pines on the Ontario shore and extends halfway across the river, is virtually unchanged and easily recognized. For landlubbers, however, it is out of bounds, for it sits on property that belongs to Atomic Energy of Canada.
Barbara Huck et al Exploring the Fur Trade Routes of North America:
One km downstream on the opposite shore is Ouiseau Rock cliffs and pictographs. Oiseau Rock is a sacred site that rises 150 metres above the Ottawa River where First Nations’ peoples left a legacy of ancient pictographs (rock paintings), painted in red ochre, that are several hundred and possibly several thousand years old.
Overnight: June 24/25: Pontiac Hotel This is a very historic place from a fur trade perspective. HBC post 1823; Hotel built in 1896.
June 25 (Day 2):
Depart Sheenboro/Fort Willliam in the morning
Pass through islands near Petawawa, a very beautiful stretch of river.
Lunch in Petawawa? Black Bear Beach (only about 7 km from Pontiac Hotel)
Overnight: June 25/26: Riverside Park, Pembroke (about 15 km downstream from Petawawa).
Meet the staff of the Ottawa Valley Heritage Centre
June 26 (Day 3): EARLY departure. This is a long day!
Highlights:
Allumette Rapids. These can be run safely on the Quebec side
Westmeath Beach, the most beautiful beach on the river. Good place for lunch! 19 km from Pembroke
The Karst Channel. Possibly the largest Karst system of caves, sinkholes and underwater channels in Canada! Time to stop and explore sinkholes and lost channels.
Overnight: June 26/27: Esprit Rafting (22 km from Westmeath Beach, for a total distance of 40 km)– a long day, but there is current to help, and hopefully tailwinds), showers at Esprit, and hopefully supper will be waiting.
June 27 (Day 4):
Paddle past Fort Coulonge (established in 1683!), don’t stop, it’s a hard paddle upstream on the Coulonge River), past Campbells Bay to BrysonAbout 35 km.
Overnight (June 27/28): Bryson
June 28 (Day 5)
Transport canoes around the Bryson Dam (Grand Calumet – once the longest portage on the Ottawa in pre-dam days). Paddlers will also have to be transported by vehicle.
Paddle to Portage-du-Fort, about 12 km downstream (depends where the canoes are launched). Good place for lunch in the town.
There is a short portage around the Chenaux Dam, about 300 m by road. Possible to carry the big canoes ourselves for this short portage.
The river below Portage-du-Fort is very scenic, sandy beaches and islands.
Overnight June 28/29: Pine Lodge in Norway Bay
Total distance: 25-30 km
June 29 (Day 6):
Depart morning and paddle to Morris island Conservation Area above the Chats Falls Dam (16 km). Pick up canoes at Morris Island Conservation Area on the Ontario side. Portage canoes (and paddlers) about 10 km to Fitzroy PP. Relaunch and paddle past Quyon about 13 km to McClarens Landing.
Overnight; McClarens Landing
June 30 (Day 7):
Long day paddle to Britannia Beach (37 km). Britannia Beach is one of the top kitesurfing places in Ontario.
Overnight June 30/July 1): Britannia Beach
July 1 (Day 8):
Portage canoes by vehicle to the Rideau River and relaunch across from Billings Bridge Shopping Centre. Paddle down the Rideau to Stanley Park. Canoe will have to be lined down the rapids at the tennis club (Strathcona Park/Vanier). Arrival at Stanley Park by 1:00 PM, Day 8, July 1.
Safety Plan (yet to come)
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